19. Elon Musk co-founded a new artificial intelligence company with Y Combinator's Sam Altman. This is the first research group dedicated entirely to making sure AI research is heading "in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole." At a time of greater discussion regarding AI potentially becoming evil, this group could mean a great deal for the robotics industry.

18. More than 1,000 artificial intelligence researchers, from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk, signed an open letter to ban killer robots. Similar to the formation of OpenAI, the letter demonstrated a greater awareness and desire to prevent robots from becoming evil. The letter urged the United Nations to ban the development and use of autonomous weapons.

getty

17. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) made it mandatory that anyone who owns a drone between half a pound and 55 pounds must register it with the government. It's arguably the biggest step the government has made to making consumer drone use more accountable and will dictate hobbyist drone use in the years to come.

Reuters/Charles Platiau

16. North Dakota became the first state in the United States this year to allow cops to put weapons on drones. The cops can only attach drones with "less than lethal" weapons, which includes rubber bullets, pepper spray, tasers, and tear gas. This may not be a breakthrough you view positively, but it's definitely a major turning point for drone use.

Associated Press/ Noah Berger

15. Researchers from Georgia Tech were able to give a robot a skill once reserved only for humans — speaking like humans. We don't think much about it since it's such a native skill, but learning the nuances of human speech is no easy feat. Think of Siri: you may be able to ask her to check the weather, but having a casual conversation is impossible. The software is still being developed, but it equipped this robot with the ability to speak actively and passively.

14. An aerospace company and 3D printing company teamed up to 3D print the world's fastest drone ever recorded. The drone can reach 150 miles per hour and was shown off at the Dubai Airshow.

13. Best Buy employed a robot named Chloe and it serve as a glimpse of the future of retail. Consumers can communicate with Chloe through a touchscreen computer and will pull games, movies, and music without you having to browse. The robot will get anything you need within 30 seconds.

Marina Nazario

12. MIT created a drone that can dodge obstacles autonomously. Drone crashes have been a huge problem — in late October, a drone crashed into power lines in California, causing an outage for 650 people. Such crashes have also dictated new FAA regulations, to the regret and frustration of some drone enthusiasts. Autonomous drones could keep consumer drone use safer.

11. Researchers from the University of Tehran created a humanoid robot that can understand Farsi. Called Serena III, the robot comes with highly-advanced capabilities, like standing on one foot and walking on uneven surfaces.

Reuters

10. Harvard researchers discovered this year that their robotic bees were able to turn dive and swim in water without any changes to its existing hardware. The discovery could have a lot of potential for search and rescue missions in environments humans can't swim or navigate safely.

Harvard University

9. A newly opened hotel in Sasebo, Japan is run almost entirely by robots to highlight innovation and cut costs. Upon check-in, guests can speak Japanese with a humanoid robot or English with a dinosaur robot. Floor robots also help carry luggage.

Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Images

8. Cambridge University researchers were able to give cars human-like vision for the very first time. This means robot cars are getting closer to seeing just like humans through a camera, rather than relying on sensor and LIDAR technology. Although it will be some time before we see this technology in practice soon, this is a huge breakthrough in the field.

7. Japan is experimenting with robotic bulldozers to make up for its massive labor shortage. The robo-bulldozers are led by drones, allowing them to push and pick up dirt and rocks with only two people present on site. The robots are being used in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and make our list because they showcase robots being successfully used for a major event. They also highlight the role robots will play in our ever-changing labor force.

YouTube/ CNET

6. German company Bosch created a robot capable of killing 120 weeds per minute. According to Bosch's estimates, farmers need to produce 3% more crops per year to keep up with global population growth. The robot could protect these plants while reducing the use of toxic herbicides in farms.

Bosch

5. Baidu, a Chinese internet company often referred to as the Chinese Google, jumped into the driverless car race with great success. Baidu successfully tested its driverless technology on an 18.6-mile route at over 60 miles per hour — a high speed for robot cars. Not only will this be big for China, which will use the technology for driverless transportation in three years, but shows increased competition for automakers and American tech companies.

Baidu

4. DARPA created a robotic hand that restored the sense of touch for a paralyzed man. The breakthrough also allowed a paralyzed woman to control a prosthetic arm using only her brain.

3. SynTouch developed a haptic sensor that provides robots with the ability to feel more than 500 materials, Wired reported. The sensor puts robots one step closer to being able to feel like humans, though the company is still working on refining and further developing the technology.

2. Robots are helping run the first fully digital hospital in North America as of late October. Patients stepping through the doors of Humber River Hospital in Toronto, Canada will not only interact with health professionals, but automated robots that are programmed to complete a variety of tasks from preparing chemotherapy drugs to delivering medical supplies.

1. The field of robotics passed a huge milestone when droids demonstrated self-awareness in an experiment led by Professor Selmer Bringsjord of New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Bringsjord gave a riddle to three robots that only humans had been able to solve, and a robot passed the test.